Among The Roses

Bonus Chapter: Ned's Italian Adventures

AN: Hello, strangers!! I finished the sequel to The PA, and only two days past my deadline! The PA is called More Than Cake on Amazon, and the sequel I've just finished is called Another Slice of Cake; clever, don't you think? It's in the hands of my proofreader (otherwise known as my daughter), and should be ready for publication on Amazon at the end of the month.
So, after a very intense six weeks of Heath, MJ, their daughters, and Uncle Archie, I needed to get my head in a different place, and I decided to write this bonus chapter which I've been mulling over for a while. I'll warn you, you'll probably be left wanting more, but those are the best kind of chapters, right?
This chapter takes place in Italy, beginning the day before Mara and Luke's wedding, when Chiara and Drew go off to talk and make up and all that good stuff; I hope you all noticed that Ned wasn't around for most of that chapter and the following one? Well, this is what he was doing😉

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Ned was downstairs at the buffet ridiculously early, waiting for Drew and his family to come down. He looked around the beautiful grounds, admiring the trees, flowers, and the gorgeous old building that had clinging vines growing all over the crumbling bricks and marble. This villa just oozed atmosphere and history, and Ned couldn't imagine a more beautiful place to get married. A paved trail meandered off through the trees, and Ned could see the lake gleaming, off in the distance.

Ned saw a cluster of girls that he called "Partials," in that they were obviously related to Luke, or more likely Mara, somehow, and closely enough to be invited to this very exclusive wedding, but not closely enough not to fangirl over meeting a member of Manderley Dreams in the flesh. He saw the Adessos and the Davies already seated at some shady tables enjoying plates full of beautiful food and bottles of wine, and debated going to join them, knowing it would stop the Partials from descending on him and asking for selfies or hitting on him or whatever it was they were contemplating, but he felt restless, and didn't feel like sitting down. He'd worn shorts and sneakers on purpose, along with a simple polo shirt, hoping for a kick around or something before the afternoon was over.

He quickly ducked around the corner of the house while the Partials weren't looking, and found himself in what looked like the staging area for the lunch buffet. There was a side entrance to the kitchen of the main house, along with extra gas stoves and cooktops set up outside. Catering trucks were backed up in neat rows with their doors open, and people were inside, dressed in white, hair tied up, slicing, dicing, arranging, or cooking. Ned felt like he'd stepped into one of the kitchen songs from Beauty and the Beast, only without the singing.

A loud voice caught his attention, and he turned to look. Ned wasn't too concerned, because he knew from experience that Italians loved loud convos, about anything from politics to music to food to hair; however, this time, he continued to watch, growing concerned. A young man in his mid-twenties or so with a beautiful black head of hair and mustache to match was yelling at a girl, leaning way over into her personal space. Again, Ned knew that Italians defined personal space differently than the English. However, this seemed excessive, even for the passionate Italians. The girl, who seemed to be about the same age as the man, was leaning back, holding a broom, wavy blonde pony tail shaking as she listened to the man heap abuse on her.

He seemed to be upset over how she was sweeping, or where she was sweeping, Ned wasn't sure which. When the mustached man stopped for breath, the blonde woman spoke up for herself, gesturing wildly with the hand that wasn't holding the broom, pointing to the ground and telling him something about the way she was sweeping.

Now the people around them who were cooking and prepping and carrying the food were stopping their work to watch the fight, some with smiles, some with looks of concern.